1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an improved clamp for closing body waste collecting bags of the type used by individuals having undergone surgical operations such as ileostomies or similar.
Such collecting bags, formed by a bag made from a plastic material film or sheet and having in one of their faces an opening adapted for connecting to the ostomy opening of the abdominal wall of a patient, are either of the "disposable" kind or of the "emptying" kind. For these latter, which are used particularly during post operative care, or by persons having undergone an ileostomy, a removable clamp is associated with each bag for sealingly closing the sheet or sheets forming the bag, at one end thereof distant from that collecting the body waste thus providing a closure which may be removed by a nurse or the patient himself for emptying the bag without it being necessary to separate it from the abdominal wall where it is fixed or held.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous constructions of such clamps are known, for example from GB-A-2 976 881 or U.S. Pat. No. 3,523,534. The device disclosed in this latter document is of the "guillotine" type, that is to say is formed by two parallel walls of a body between which a blade may penetrate, by pivoting about a hinge, about which the edges of the opening of the collecting bag are folded, the dimensions of the blade, of the body and of the sheets being chosen so that the bag is sealingly closed by clampingly nipping its edges when the blade is entirely housed inside said walls. Snap fitting of the blade on the body, at the end opposite the pivoting end, prevents any untimely opening. Such a clamp is not easy to operate, in particular on opening, since, in order to remove the waste or excrements from the bag, the end thereof must be unfolded, after removing the blade, which may be a source of considerable discomfort.
Furthermore, such a device is only slightly deformable or not at all in its closed position in which it has three parallel parts, namely the two walls and the blade housed therebetween.
A construction of a different type is also known, in which the clamp is formed by molding a plastic material in the form of two legs hinged together about a film hinge with, for holding the legs one against the other in the closed position, a clip assembly means provided at the end opposite the hinge part. Such a device, described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,888, provides for clamping the edges of the collecting bag between multiple ribs of the two legs whose structure, like that of the assembly means, is thus relatively complex.
The problem arises then of providing an improved clamp which is simultaneously very easy to use, completely reliable insofar as closing the body waste collecting bag which it is intended to equip unconcerned and which, may further be at least slightly deformable without any disadvantages in its closed condition, thus allowing a certain adaptation to the morphology of the user.